1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable slitter and in particular to a tool for slitting multi-conductor flat flexible cable having flat conductors embedded in insulation.
2. The Prior Art
Cable harnesses are prepared in one of two ways. Either discrete wire is terminated and assembled in a bundle to form a cable harness or a pre-formed cable, in which a plurality of conductors are secured in a parallel spaced relationship within insulation, is cut to the appropriate length and the ends thereof terminated. A cable harness made of discrete wire presents no problem in separating the various conductors to effect their respective connection in its ultimate use. The cable harness made with pre-formed cable forms somewhat of a problem when it is being connected since the conductors are all secured with relative fixed spacing. It, therefore, is necessary to split the cable to separate the conductors sufficiently to allow them to effect their proper connection. Slitting is generally not too much of a problem with a ribbon type cable since the individual conductors there are surrounded by insulation with an indentation or recess being formed between adjacent conductors. However, in the case of flat flexible cable employing flat conductors it is a problem since the insulation is usually formed over the conductors, either as an extruded layer or as a pair of laminated sheets securing the conductors therebetween. This type of cable does not tear readily and any such tearing likely would expose a conductor thereby deteriorating the value of the cable as a whole.
Tools for cutting webs of material, such as multiconductor cable, are known. These generally have some member which supports the web as it is moved longitudinally beneath cutting members mounted at a fixed location. U.S. Pat. No. 532,554 shows a candy cutting machine which has a plurality of parallel, spaced cutting blades and a plain roller making tangential contact with the blades. The roller and blades are rotatably driven to draw the candy therebetween while cutting it into strips. U.S. Pat. No. 651,789 shows another candy cutting machine in which an endless belt carries the candy web beneath cutting blades. U.S. Pat. No. 1,054,143 shows a metal cutting machine in which the member to be cut is placed on a traveling table and carried beneath the planer head. U.S. Pat. No. 1,734,643 shows a paper cutter in which the paper is slit as it is pulled over a guard plate and beneath a series of fixed blades. In each of these known devices there is some mechanism to both support and move the material to be cut. This can lead to inaccuracies in cutting should the web buckle or shift in any manner.